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Niagara Falls police said Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53 and
from Grand Island, New York, were the occupants of the car. The
incident was still under investigation by the Niagara Falls
police Crash Management unit on Friday.
Video of the Wednesday crash, caught on security camera by the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, showed the car
traveling from the U.S. side of the border at high speed, then
hitting an object and flying into the air before crashing to the
ground and exploding in flames.
A CBP officer suffered minor injuries at the crash site, was
treated at a nearby hospital and later released, an agency
official said.
The incident immediately raised concerns of a terrorist attack,
prompting the closure of four U.S.-Canadian border crossings in
the area on Wednesday and a halt on international flights at
Buffalo International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration.
An initial investigation by U.S. federal agencies, including the
FBI, found it was not terrorism-related.
CNN reported the driver was intending to see the rock group KISS
in concert in Canada, but when the concert was canceled, he went
to a casino in the U.S. instead. The crash occurred sometime
after the couple left the casino, CNN reported, citing
investigator sources.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Josie Kao)
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